Hearing Scheduled on Cockfighting Law

There must be one hen for every rooster.

Or so goes the battle cry at the County Government Center, where officials have worked for months to craft an ordinance that curtails illegal cockfighting while appeasing show breeders.

The ordinance will be considered by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday following a public hearing.

County planning officials said they consulted with breeders who show hens and roosters, as well as state and local agricultural officials, to rework the proposal.

The breeders had said that the previous proposal’s call for one rooster to every 15 hens was overly restrictive and unrealistic. Fifteen hens is simply too much work for one rooster, they said.

For those who want to keep a small number of roosters without any hens, county planners say supervisors could revise the new proposal further to allow up to four roosters to be kept without any hens.

The county’s current ordinance allows up to 30 roosters on rural half-acre lots and up to 217 on 5-acre lots. The law brings in about 40 to 50 noise complaints annually. Code enforcement and Sheriff’s Department officials say they have found sites with up to 2,000 roosters and evidence of cockfighting.

Existing cockfighting laws are tough to enforce, prompting sheriff’s officials and members of the county Humane Society to seek the amendments to county zoning codes.

Tuesday’s hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.